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It didn’t take long for the Cincinnati media to hound MLB commissioner Bud Selig with questions about Pete Rose.

In fact, it was the second question the outgoing commissioner received during his conference at Great American Ball Park on Friday night. Rose was banned for life from baseball in 1989 by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti, but there are plenty of people — especially in Reds country — that believe Selig could reinstate him or pardon him before stepping down in January.

“I understand I am in The Land of Pete Rose, driving in here on Pete Rose Way,” he said, via FOXSports.com. “All that is fair. The man was a great player and had a great history here. He was a great hitter. But, you know, there are a lot of things in life that happen that the commissioner, or any of us, wish hadn’t happened. I was particularly close to Bart Giamatti, one of the best friends I ever had in the world.

“I understand the feeling here in Cincinnati, I do. I’m sensitive to it, as a matter of fact,” he added. “I’ve said, because I am the judge and it is a matter under advisement, that it is inappropriate for me to say any more about it.”

That didn’t stop the questions from flooding in about Rose, but Selig remained tight-lipped about Rose’s status. Selig did not give anything away, only telling the media that he still has a few months to mull the matter over.

“How it ends, eventually, I do not know,” he said. “I’ve taken it seriously, talked to a lot of people. It is one of those situations that is difficult and you wished it didn’t exist. I have to think about this. I have five months to think about it.”